BHP oil and gas chief Tim Cutt has said repeatedly that his petroleum portfolio is under review, and the miner has high benchmarks as to how it allocated capital.

BHP's petroleum business in Pakistan houses only one asset - the Zamzama gas plant.

BHP oil and gas chief Tim Cutt has said repeatedly that his petroleum portfolio is under review, and the miner has high benchmarks as to how it allocated capital.

Speaking at a conference in September last year, Mr Cutt said "I have mentioned the fact that we are divesting assets out of the portfolio".

"Last year, we divested a mainstay for us, our Liverpool Bay asset. Right now, we are marketing our Pakistan assets and we have a few other smaller assets around the world that we will continue to look at and we will divest with time."

The miner also announced its Fayetteville shale gas business was on the market late last year.